Gas engine



2 Sheets-Sheet l1.

(No Model.)

s. LAWSON. GAS ENGINE.

Patented May 7, 1889.

N` PETERS. VholvLithogrnpher, Wnshillnn. D4 C.

2 Sheets-Sheef 2.

S. LAWSON.

GAS ENGINE (No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL LAW'SON, OF NEV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND ALONZO T. VELCH, OF SAME PLACE.

GAS-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 402,751, dated May 7, 1889.

Application filed August 4, 1888.

T0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL LAWSON, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Gas-Engines; and the following is declared to be a description of the same.

My present application is one of a series of like date herewith, in which Oase A is the principal application and Cases B and C show similar devices to my present Oase D, the serial numbers of said Cases A, B, and C being 281,997, 281,998, and 281,999.

My present invention relates to improvements that are available in all gas-engines; and the same consists, essentially, of improvements in the valve for admitting gas and air in regulated quantities within the cylinder and exploding the same, the object of my invention being to simplify and render positive the proper admission of regulated quantities of gas and air into the cylinder of the gas-engine, and also to insure and control the action of the igniting-flame by which the gas and air are exploded in operating the engine; and I combine with these features devices hereinafter set forth for operating the eX- haust-valve at every stroke of the engine and effecting .non-compression in starting the engine, which devices are capable of being shifted after the engine is started, so that the exhaust is operated every other stroke and compression effected.

In carrying out my invention I combine with the cylinderuhaving a water-jacket a piston, connecting-rod, crank, main shaft, and exhaust valve and case, the valve case and pipes for admitting gas and air, a tubular valve of peculiar construction having ports for admitting combined gas and air into the cylinder at one part of its operation, a pipe for admitting gas into said valve, and a ilame for igniting the same at another part of the operation of said valve and for admitting the ignited gas into the cylinder to explode the combined air and gas therein.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of my improved engine. Fig. 2 is an-elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section, in larger size, of the valve-case and valve in the position shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the valve-'case and valve at Serial No. 282,000. (No model.)

right angles to Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a cross-section of the valve-case and valve at o@ x of Fig.

4. Fig. 6 is an elevation of my improved device for operating the exhaust-valve. Fig. 7 55 is an elevation, and Fig. 8 a plan, of a modified form ofsaid device.

A represents the cylinder, which is provided with a water-jacket, B, and within saidcylinder A is the piston C, and the connecting- 6o rod D is pivoted at one end to the piston O `and at the other end to the crank E, and there is a main shaft, F, upon which the crank E is mounted, and I provide a cast standard, G, to which these parts are connected.

h represents the exhaust-valve and case.

6 represents the stem of the exhaust-valve; 7, the spring around the same; 8, the roller upon the lower end of the stem G, and K the cam by which the exhaust-valve is operated. 7o

The valve-case L is provided with pipes 12 and 13 for admitting gas and air Within the valve-case, and there is a burner at 30 having a flame for igniting the gas and air. These parts are similar to those having the same letters of reference described in my applications A B C, heretofore named. 1

The valve-case L is connected upon the side of the cylinder A, and through said oase is a port, s, opening into the cylinder, and within 8o said valve-case there is a tubular valve, b, and entering the case at one side is a pipe, 1, for admitting gas, and pivotally connected to said tubular valve o is a rod, t', the lower end of which is pivoted upon the gear 24, and 8 5 meshing with said gear 24 `is a gear, 23, upon the main shaft F, and these gears, as in my other applications named herein, bear the relation to eachother of one for gear 23 to two for gear 24, which provides for thepiston C mak- 9o ving two movements to 'one of the tubular valve b.

The tubular valve t is provided with ports 2, 3, 4, and 5, and there is an Opening in the valve-oase at r opposite the flame Vof the burner 30, and there is a curved port, 9, through the valve-case, as shown in Fig. 4, connecting the gas and air supply with the interior of the valve-case, and said tubular valve h is provided with one or more packing- 10o rings at 15.

The operation of the parts is as follows:

Considering the location of the parts as shown in Figs. l and 2, wherein the rod has not yet completed its entire movement upward, and presuming that the cylinder A has in ita mixture of gas and air and the chamber of the tubular valve l) has in it ignited gas, the further upward movement of said valve b opens the port 3 to the port s, allowing the ignited gas in the valve to communicate with and explode the combined gas and air in the cylinder A, which operation imparts an impetus to the piston C just as the crank E has turned its center and the piston commenced its downward movement. The tubularvalveb now moves downward by the action of the rod t' and gear 24, and when it reaches its lowest point the head of said valve passes below the opening from the gas and air pipes 12 13, so that the upper end of the valvecase is opened, and gas and air combined can pass freely through the same and the port s into the cylinder Ar Meanwhile the piston C has made an upstroke and exhausted the spent gases of the former charge and commences its second downward stroke, drawing in the charge of gas and air, as just named. The tubular valve b is now at its lowest point in the valve-case, and the port 4E of the valve coincides with the port 9, and the operation of drawing in the gas and air acts to suck or draw out of the tubular valve h through the ports 4 and 9 any foul gas within said valve, and the tubular valve l) now rises in the valvecase and its upper end shuts oit the supply of gas and air, and as the port 5 comes opposite the pipe l gas is admitted within said valve, and as the port 2 passes the opening r the flame of the burner ignites the gas and air in the valve. Meanwhile the piston C has made a downward movement, drawing into the cylinder a charge of gas and air, and returns upwardly, compressing the charge in the cylinder A, and as the tubular valve l), with its lighted charge of gas and air, passes above the point shown in Figs. 3 and t communication is closed between the port 2 and the opening r, and as the charge in the cylinder A is compressed communication is opened from the interior of the tubular valve b by the port 3 to the port s, and the ignited gas in said tubular valve explodes the compressed charge of gas and air in the cylinder A, causing the piston to descend by the impetus thus given, and in rotation these operations are repeated in the manner just described.

In starting my improved engine it is desirable that the exhaust-valve should be opened at every stroke of the piston C during the compression of the charge, so that by this means a portion of the charge just drawn in is allowed to escape again, in consequence of which the compression only begins when the piston has partially performed its work and the degree of compression is much less than under usual working conditions, such as heretofore described., and to accomplish this object I employ the following device:

The bracket m, which is secured to the standard G and carries the gear 24 and the cam K, is provided with an L-shaped arm,'m, and secured to the rod 6 is a plate or arm, n, and passing through said plate or arm n is a headed rod having recessed in its surface an i inverted L-shaped slot. Said rod 0 also passes through the arm m', and there is a cam, K upon the same hub with the cam K, and these cams are set opposite to one another, the cam K operating upon the roller 8, raising the arm G and opening the exhaust-valve every second revolutionof the main shaft I and every second movement of the piston C; but when it is desired to operate the exhaust-valve, as herein stated, with every revolution of the shaftF and every movement of the piston C the headed rod ois pushed downward thro ugh the arm fm and arm m and is given a partial revolution, so that the pin 1S, which passes through th e arm n and bears in the slot of the rod o, will take a bearing in the horizontal end of said slot and hold the rod o down, in which position the cam K will operate upon its lower end and through the arm n and rod G will open the exhaust-valve the second time during the revolution of the gear 24, the cams K and K acting alternately first upon the roller 8 and then upon the end of the rod o, thus opening the exhaust-valve twice for every revolution of the gear 24 and once for every revolution of the gear 23, and consequently once for every movement of the piston C. This device is preferable to employ in starting an engine, because thereby less power is required; but after the engine gets under headway it is preferable to turn the rod o and allow the spring o to raise the rod 0, so that its lower end is not acted upon by the cam K', and the exhaustvalve is only opened every second revolution by the cam K, and thus compression is eiiected in the engine with every second revolution.

Figs. 7 and 8 show a modification of the device just named, wherein an arm, n', is built upon or continued out at right angles to the arm n, and said arm n has its end slotted and provided with a tubular-headed stem and spring, the end of which stem is made with a catch and adapted to engage notches made in the surface of the rod o, the spring t acting to keep the catch of the arm t in the notch of the rod o and hold the same down in position again, the cam K and the rod o being moved upwardly by the spring o when the rodt is pulled outwardly against the spring t. i

I claim as my inventionl. The combination, in a gas-engine, with the vertical valve-case L, closed at the upper end, and pipes for supplying gas and air, of the tubular valve l), the rod t', and mechanism, substantially as specified, for imparting an up-anddown movement to the valve, a pipe, l, for admitting gas, a burner, 30, there being an opening, a" in the valve-case, and ports 2 3 5 in the tubular valve by which gas is re- IOO IIO

eeived within the tubular valve and ignited and the flame passed into the cylinder of the engine, there being a port, s, to the cylinder, by which when the tubular valve is depressed air and gas pass through the oase over the valve into the cylinder, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a gas-engine, with the cylinder, valve-oase, valve, and an eX- haust-valve and oase, and the cams K K', of the valve-stem 6 and its roller 8, an arm oonnected' to said stem, and a movable rod passing through said arm and adapted to be held against or away from the cam K', whereby the exhaust-valve can be opened every revolution or every second revolution of the engine, substantially as specified.

3. The combination, in a gas-engine, with the cylinder and piston, valve-case and valve, and mechanism, substantially as herein shown and described, for operating the same, of an exhaust-valve and ease, the stem 6, the arm fn, the slotted rod o, the eam K', the pin 18 in the arm n and engaging the slot of the rod 0, and a spring, o', substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, in a gas-engine, with the valve-oase L, closed at the upper end, and v pipes for supplying gas and air, of the tubular valve b, the rod t', and mechanism, substantially as speeiiied, for imparting an upand-down movement to the valve, a pipe, l, for admitting gas, a burner, 80, there being an opening, r, in the valve-case and ports 2 3 5 in the tubular valve, by which gas is received within the tubular valve and ignited andthe flame passed into the cylinder of the engine, there being a port, s, to the cylinder, by which when the tubular valve is depressed air and gas pass through the oase over the valve into the cylinder, and a port, 4, in the tubular valve and a port, 9, in the valve-ease, whereby when gas and air are drawn into the cylinder foul gas is exhausted from within the valve b, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 20th day of July, 1888.

SAMUEL LAwsoN.

Witnesses:

GEO. T. PINCKNEY, HAROLD SERRELL. 

